When Autumn Comes
by Iemitsu-Sachi
Summary: Naruto, a fox demon, is found and rescued from hunters by a human, and now he is forced to live with him. But besides annoying him, he never expected to want him as his future mate. SASUNARU. Future mpreg.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Neither Sachi nor Iemitsu owns Naruto.

Warnings: **Shounen ai**,** yaoi**, **ooc-ness**, **bad writing style**, **bad grammar** (even after been edited by both of us), and other stuff like **language** and **future mpreg**. So like, if you can't stand one of them, then please save yourself the embarrassment and go back right away. Because if you flame us, you'd just be making this story popular.

"Speech."

_Thoughts._

* * *

In Minato Namikaze's opinion, spring has always been the best time to enjoy the outdoor life. It was definitely his favorite season. He always looked forward to this season the most. The sights and smells brought special reminiscent memories of his childhood. Diverse types of flowers such as wild geranium and marsh marigold bloomed at this season, as well as the wild grass, bushes, shrubs and trees. Small, green sprouts protrude from the fertile soil, growing quickly and spreading through the field. Leaves finally return and decorate the gloomy, bare branches of trees as if they were brought back to life. Spring was the most beautiful season of all.

In autumn, young adult demons go in heat. Girls, and sometimes submissive guys, would fawn over the strongest males who fought each other to impress a potential mate. Sadly, sometimes these fights would result in deaths. Minato and other older foxes would be forced to intervene before anyone got injured. Males got very dangerous and aggressive during this season, so he abhorred it.

Winters brought too much snow, much to the kits pleasure and elders' annoyance. Here in the prairies and the forests, the ground would get completely covered by snow and ice. Everyone had to spend most of the time inside their dens, waiting until the blizzards would end. Of course, the white ice flakes brought out joy and playful attitudes from the youngsters as they dug and buried themselves below the blankets of snow. But it also brought problems and danger for the elders that were in charge of hunting for food. Searching for prey was a hassle. Most of animals would hibernate, migrate, or die because of the bitter, harsh winters.

Summer was the season to settle territory disputes with other demons. The scourging heat made everybody more intolerable and usually ended up having fights with other demon clans. Most of the time, ponds and water springs would dry up, which provoked other demons to fight over the territory. The eldest in the Fox Clan were sent out to either to negotiate or to fight for territory rights. Unfortunately, the latter always caused nothing but grief and sorrow. Loosing a member of the pack is like loosing a member of the family. This fox clan _is_ his family. And because of the danger, the little ones were barely allowed to go outside without supervision.

And so, spring was the best season. During spring, there aren't any problems, and the weather was perfect for hunting. Spring was the season to relax, have fun, and enjoy the blooming flowers and fruit trees. Another thing he loved about this season was that the kits conceived during autumn are born, adding more members to the Fox Clan.

And so, Namikaze Minato was lying down on the moist grass, his golden fur on his stomach getting slightly wet thanks to the morning dew. His tail moved back and forth as he watched the inhabitants of his fox pack. His ears twitched, ready to catch any foreign sounds. As the Yondaime, or ruler of all the demons of the Fire Country, and as pack leader of the Fox Clan, he was there to protect and keep his kin safe from other wicked demons and humans.

The older foxes were sleeping and resting under the cool shade of the surrounding trees. Some of them would bark and snap at some of the kits that would play too close to them during their play time.

_Those old geezers really need to lighten up. They too used to be kits at one time._ Minato thought, very amused when the most hyperactive, playful, cutest, and most annoying kit was scolded by an older fox. That kit, a.k.a. his son Naruto, mocked the old vulpine with a few yapping noises before going back to play with other demons.

Minato watched his son as he played with a hyper dog demon named Kiba, who was the same age and size as Naruto, a brown demon bear cub named Chouji with an endless appetite, and a lazy demon owl named Shikamaru, perched on a low branch of a tree.

Naruto had a weird choice of 'friends.' He usually didn't socialize with other foxes, but ironically got along well with other demons.

Naruto was an exact replica of himself. His golden fur, with a few orange hairs, seemed like it was nearly glowing when it was hit by sunlight. His legs and paws were black as well as the tips of his ears. His muzzle had three long whiskers at each side. Eyes as blue as his own, or maybe even bluer, would sparkle with so much joy and mischief that Minato couldn't help but let him get his way with almost anything. His son was one of a kind with his beautiful nine tails. The young fox had quickly wormed inside of everyone's hearts since the day he was born, and no matter how bad his pranks were, Naruto could get away with just about anything, even though he was already a teen.

"Come back here, you runt!"

"Catch me if you can asswipe!"

Minato barely had time to blink before two figures, one yellow and one brown, rushed by, fluttering his fur.

"Guys stop! Everyone is looking at us!" the brown young bear, Chouji, cried.

"This is troublesome."

Kiba stopped his fox chasing to glare at his friends. "Easy for you guys to say. Shikamaru doesn't have a tail and Chouji's tail is too small to be stepped on by an overexcited fox!" The last part was directed to a bouncy kit.

Naruto swished his nine tails over to coil around his legs. "Well, that's what you get for stealing my rabbit!" He yelped when the dog lurched forward to bite him.

"I told you that it wasn't me! It was that old wolf, Jiraya!"

"Don't lie to me you mutt! Ero-Sennin wasn't even here!"

"How the hell do you know? You were to busy spying on those humans who were camping close to the river!"

Naruto cringed. "Lower down your voice you flea-bag! If my dad finds out I was spying on humans again, he'll cut off all my tails or tie me up to a tree with them!" he whispered, blue eyes shifted around to see if his dad heard them, thankfully Minato was talking to Chouji's dad, the huge brown bear was a giant compared to Minato.

Kiba softened his expression. "Chill out dude, he's not gonna hear me."

Shikamaru lowered his eyes from the passing clouds to peer at Naruto from a branch in a tall tree. "Humans are dangerous Naruto. You can't get too close to them, especially if they're hunters."

The blue-eyed fox twitched his ears. "Yeah well, is not like I'm gonna get caught anyway, I'm very careful to not be seen. Those humans are as attentive as Shikamaru in a cloudy day, or Chouji during berry season."

"Huh?" both the bear cub and the owl said.

Kiba snorted. "Yeah, and it just so happens that it's cloudy and berry season starts today." Both Kiba and Naruto laughed.

A booming voice interrupted the laughter. " Chouji! It's time for dinner!"

Chouji poked his head out of a wild berry bush. "I better go. My dad's calling, it's about time too! I'm starving! See you guys later!" The reddish-brown bear trotted to meet his dad, who was standing on his hind legs, making him look even bigger and taller.

"I got to go too. My mom is making me hunt today, what a troublesome woman," the young owl said and took flight.

"Well, I guess it's just you and me, Blondie. What do you suppose we should do?" Kiba said.

The blond fox thought for a minute. "Mmmhh, you want to hunt for mice? I think I saw a few dens next to his weird tree that was just recently struck by lighting."

Kiba beamed, it wasn't very often he went out to hunt by himself. His mother, Tsume and his sister Hana both thought he was still a puppy and much too young to hunt by himself. Well okay, may be he still was a pup, but soon he'll turn into an adult! He knew that Naruto was treated the exact same way by his father, which is why they will both hunt together behind their parents' backs.

* * *

The rest of the day was spent chasing a few mice with an occasional squirrel. Alas, they never noticed that they slowly drifted away from the Fox Clan territory. Just before the sun went down, Kiba was called by his sister Hana.

Kiba winced when he heard his sister's angry howls. "Guess I better go. See you later, Vixen!"

Naruto sputtered. "Wh- what the hell did you call me, you asshole?!"

For once, Kiba actually looked pensive. "Don't you call female foxes, vixens?"

"I'm not a female you dumbass!"

"But aren't you going to enter your first heat this year? You're supposed to find a mate, so Chouji, Shikamaru, and I placed bets. I said you won't be on top."

If it wasn't for the fact that Naruto was covered by fur, he would be blushing furiously by now.

The brown dog was unable to hide the large grin, exposing rows of white teeth. He turned and head off to find his sister and mother.

Upon returning to the Fox Clan territory, Kiba's comment was finally beginning to sink in. Naruto's first heat was this year and he still hasn't thought about his future mate. Most of the foxes his age already had chosen a mate in the pack or were courting a demon in a different pack like the Wolf Clan or Dog Clan.

It was a customary tradition for demons that as soon as a demon found its mate, they would move out of their pack to start their own, if they were different species of demons. However, if they are from the came clan, they stay it that clan, and follow their own leader. All clans living in the same region was ruled by a leader, otherwise known as Hokage. In this case it was Minato.

But going back to the main problem, Naruto wasn't even sure he wanted to find a mate to spend the rest of his life with, and foxes mated for life. He was positive though, that he had no choice whatsoever. The instant mating season starts in autumn, his instincts will take over, leaving reason and logic behind.

Sadly, the blue-eyed fox wasn't exactly popular with the young females in his clan. They thought he was loud, too energetic, and despite the fact that his father was the Hokage and leader of the Fox Clan, they still let him know he was annoying and a waste of space.

He whimpered softly.

It wasn't his fault he was different from them. He was born with nine tails because his mother was a rare nine-tailed fox demon. And because of that, she was killed by humans because of her exotic features.

The fox kit raised his head and smiled. _There's no way I'm gonna let them get me down!_

Without Naruto knowing, the scenery began to change. The tall grass was replaced by dry leaves and rocky soil. Trees began to cover the place and the scent of grass and flowers was replaced by the strange smell of pinecones and tree sap.

Naruto looked around. He was definitely far away from his den. But that was nothing to worry about though. He could follow his own scent and be back before his dad missed him.

The nine-tailed fox's nose twitched.

Something strange and different was in the air. Naruto could've sworn he has smelled it before. But the smell was usually around humans and their campsites, and as far as he could tell, there weren't any humans around at the moment. So he continued walking, enjoying the crunching sounds from the dead leaves. He stepped in a particularly large pile of leaves, excitedly waiting for them to make those amusing crunching noises.

**CLANK!**

To his horror, metal jaw-like clamps closed on his right front leg with force. He cried out and shook his paw, making the jaws dig into his skin more. Blood quickly rushed down his leg, coating his paw and leaves on the ground. Blue eyes widened.

_I'm trapped!_ Naruto knew what this meant. In all probability, he'll be found by humans and killed for his fur, just like his mom.

Clear blue eyes turned red in anger. All his nine tails swirled and swiped at the air. Naruto opened his jaws wide and snapped at the heavy large chain connected to the clamp, but stopped his actions when he noticed that it wasn't working, in fact, it was making his teeth hurt.

He was about to summon his demon chakra when he heard some shuffling from nearby bushes. His sensitive nose told him it was a human.

The blond vulpine expected a big, ugly, bearded man with a knife ready to skin him right there, but to his complete astonishment a young human male came out of the bushes. He had spiky black hair that contrasted perfectly with his pale, white skin. He wasn't even dressed like other humans Naruto has seen before. This human was wearing a long sleeved shirt with a weird-looking, red and white fan on the back. He was also wearing blue pants with blue sandals. He was very unusual human, but not in a bad way.

Red, angry eyes made contact with curious ebony ones.

Although, mystified by the human, Naruto snarled and growled when he came closer. Black eyes flashed and narrowed. The human reached for a long sword from his belt on his waist and pulled it out.

Naruto panicked. _He's going to kill me just like…_

Memories of his infancy and his mother resurfaced. Against his will, he emitted sad whines, and whimpers. His body trembled and shook. After a moment of hesitation, the human came closer.

_There's no way in hell I'll die like this! _Naruto began to summon his red-orange chakra. He was about to perform his favorite jutsu, his infamous clone jutsu, when the boy maneuvered his sword to point above his head.

The human raised his sharp sword and pointed it downwards. Before Naruto could blink, the human struck.

The scorching pain of the razor sharp sword never came; instead the sent of cool rain and the aftermath of a lighting storm overwhelmed his olfactory senses. He opened his eyes wide and realized that the human didn't stab him with the sword; he threw the thin blade between the chain links to keep him from moving and trashing.

Naruto snarled and showed his fangs.

The human will most certainly kill him now. The raven-haired raised his eyebrows at the aggression then gave him an icy glare.

"I should probably kill you. You're nothing but a scrawny runt that is stupid enough to get caught in a visible trap."

Naruto's still red eyes narrowed.

Growls deepened in his throat as the human inched closer in his space; he reached out a hand to inspect the paw that was trapped. Jaws immediately grasped the pale hand and bit hard enough to draw blood. But to his entire displeasure, the black-haired man's expression remained impassive.

"Calm down dobe, or else I'll let you stay here and wait until the bears and mountain lions get you, or may be the hunters will come back," he sneered. "I heard hunters nowadays can be quite cruel. They dump their prey on pools full of chemicals, making sure they drown. Once they are dead, they skinned them." He smirked when the poor fox stilled as if paralyzed. The grip on his hand loosened, as if the fox had understood what he just said.

Trying again, hands reached down to pull the two clamps apart as gently as possible and not hurt the fox anymore.

Naruto whimpered. "Bastard! You could be a little less rough, you know!" Naruto said. Of course, all the human could understand was growls and whimpers.

Once he was free, Naruto was picked up by the scruff of his neck and inspected by calculating black eyes.

_I've never seen such strange looking fox in my life before. _Sasuke thought was he gazed at the paralyzed fox, dangling from his scruff. Blood started dripping on the ground.

_What do I do with this! There's no way I'll take it back to Konoha, it could have some sort of disease or something. I should probably kill it. Those hunters might come back to get her and kill her if I leave her here. Wait a minute… _

Sasuke looked between the fox's back legs, only to find male equipment there.

"Hn. With those whimpers and whines that you were making just a few seconds ago, I had mistaken you for a female."

Naruto blushed under his fur, while the human stared at him. He tried to cover himself with his tails. _What the hell? I thought __**you**__ were a girl at first too! _The humiliated kit thought.

Sasuke turned his attention back to the injury.

There was no doubt that the fox was badly wounded. A large gash went all around the leg and was bleeding profusely. It was beginning to get swollen and it looked like it was broken, judging by the strange angle it was right now. His beautiful, golden coat and black paws were now stained red with blood. But the weird thing was the fox wasn't very paying much attention to the wound. It was instead looking at him warily, almost as if it was skeptical whether he should be trusted or not.

The smell of cool rain and green tea once again filled Naruto's nose as the human accommodated him better in his arms.

The human sighed softly yet loudly enough to stop the fox from dozing off from the lack of blood.

"I might as well take you to Konoha before you die of blood loss. If you give me any trouble, I'll change my mind and put you out of your misery," he warned and strolled back to his home village.

As he arrived and walked through the streets, the people of Konoha eyed him curiously. It wasn't everyday that they saw the one of the last of the Uchiha, also known as the sexiest teen (although, Itachi wins first place in that category) and biggest heartthrob, in the village carrying a bleeding animal throughout the streets.

_I guess any vet clinic will do._

He walked leisurely to nearest veterinary health center and approached the secretary inside.

She looked up from her papers and smiled. "Hello, welcome to Konoha's Vet Clinic. My name is Shizune, how may I help you?" she asked, although she could already guess it had something to do with the bleeding fox in the guy's arms.

Instead of speaking right away, the pale-skinned human gently laid a hand on the back of the fox's neck.

Shizune almost giggled. It was nice to know that the Uchiha wasn't as cold as everyone thought he was and actually cared for an animal.

Her thoughts were crushed and stepped on when instead of petting the fox, like she thought he would, he grabbed the poor animal by the scruff of the neck and shoved the squirming and yapping kit to her face.

_So much for 'caring' for defenseless animals. _Shizune rolled her eyes.

"I found him in the forest in a trap. His leg is broken and needs medical attention."

Shizune eyed the growling and whimpering fox with pity. "Very well, let me see if Tsunade-sama is available," she told him to wait and disappeared to another room.

A few minutes later, a woman with blond hair and large breasts stepped out.

"Interesting, I never thought I would see you here," she motioned for him to step inside a different room. "I didn't know you Uchiha were allowed to have pets."

"It's not my pet, I found it in the forest caught in a hunter's trap," he was still holding the small golden fox by the scruff.

"Well then, I'm glad to know that Uchiha Sasuke is not cold enough to leave a poor defenseless animal in the hands of a hunter, they can be quite gruesome sometimes."

The blonde went over the sink to wash her hands.

"Just put him gently on that table over there and don't go anywhere," she waved a finger at him.

Sasuke frowned, but complied.

Tsunade worked quickly but gently. She distracted the growling fox with a few pieces of doggy treats and cleaned the wounds before wrapping it in a cast.

_Ow! Ow! Not so hard you old hag! _The kit nipped at the woman's finger.

"Stop it you brat! I'm trying to help!" she said as she flicked his forehead with her index finger.

Sasuke rolled his eyes at the two blondes.

"There, he should be good in two weeks. Thankfully the bones were not as bad as I thought. With some food and rest, he'll be back to normal. Make sure he doesn't move around too much."

Sasuke frowned even more. "You make it sound like I'm going to keep him with me."

"Well aren't you?"

"No."

"You can't leave him here, if that's what you were thinking. I already got too many clients leaving their pets here. I haven't got the time to take them to an animal shelter or find them new owners."

"I can't keep him."

Her eyes narrowed. "Why not?"

"I don't know how to take care of a fox."

She waved a hand. "What's there to know? You feed it, clean after it, and make sure it gets plenty of sleep. Foxes are in the canine family, so it's like taking care of a street mutt."

Naruto growled.

"Itachi hates animals."

"I thought he was in a mission in a different village."

"I still can't keep him. I'm not very good with animals."

Tsunade rubbed her temples. "If he causes trouble for you, just bring him here. I'll give you a sedative, which should make him sleep the entire day. After he gets better, you can release him back to the forest."

"Hn. Fine"

By the time the verbal tennis match was over (and almost suffering from a neck sprain), Naruto was once again picked up Sasuke and left the clinic.

"I'll send you the bill later, Uchiha-san!" Shizune said before he left.

Naruto tilted his head to look at his new caretaker. He looked even better when expressing an emotion other than indifference. His black eyes stared up ahead, completely ignoring the gazing fox in his arms.

Naruto sighed. Now that he thought about it, this entire thing seemed kind of funny and ironic. He had spent most of his free time wondering about humans back in the forest, but he has never been so close to one like this before. Now that he has the chance to see them up close, all he wants is to go home.

_At least now I can have my revenge on… what was his name again? Sato? Sake? Sisco?_

"Kyaa! It's Sasuke-kun!!" a girl cried out.

"He's coming this way!"

"Quick! How's my hair? How's my hair?!" another girl whispered anxiously.

"Sasuke-kun!"

_Oh, so his name is Sasuke?_ Naruto thought as he glanced at the girls, waiting to be noticed. However, Sasuke displayed his customary displeasure by ignoring the girls and walking past them without even glancing at them.

Naruto looked back at their hurt filled eyes.

_What a jerk!_

Then it suddenly struck him. He would get revenge by acting horrible to the bastard! He only spend about an hour with the guy and he could tell that this guy gets annoyed easily.

_Alright then! From now on for two weeks, I'll switch to mischievous and catastrophic mode à la Naruto!_

Almost as if celebrating his new plan, he swished his long bushy tails and tilted his head up to look at the human guy. He opened his eyes wide and gave a few yaps to get the brunet's undivided attention.

He succeeded. "What's with that face, Usuratonkachi?"

Well, will you look at that! They were up to pet names already!

Naruto bit his tongue to keep from growling. Instead, he dug his claws on his shirt and reached up to lick his cheek gently. He barked happily when the boy's eye twitched. This was fun!

_Yep! I'm definitely gonna have fun messing with Sasuke-bastard for the next two weeks._

He buried his muzzle on the human's shirt to hide the mischievous vulpine grin that threatened to erupt, unknowingly to the fox; he killed two birds with one stone when Sasuke's eye twitched in annoyance at the snuggling fox.

* * *

A/N: Iemitsu and Sachi would like to say a few things. Before you ask, Naruto and other demons are capable of doing jutsu even without doing hand seals. They regulate their demon chakra to take the form of what ever jutsu is that they are doing. And no, there's not going be bestiality in here, but there will be mpreg. Sorry to those who don't like mpreg.

Also, I don't know how to explain the smell of rain, and I'm not talking about the smell of wet soil. I'm talking about the refreshing smell of water and lighting storms and their aftermath. I just love that smell and always go outside during a storm just to smell it, or maybe I just smelling the ozone?

Iemitsu: -Slaps Sachi on the head- What a loser!

Anyways, enough babbling. Review if you would like for us to continue. We already know this story is cliché, so we are not continuing something that no one wants to read, that would be just plain stupid. So review if you like it.

- Ietmitsu-Sachi


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Neither Sachi nor Iemitsu owns Naruto.

Warnings: **Shounen ai**,** yaoi**, **ooc-ness**, **bad writing style**, **bad grammar** (even after been edited by both of us), and other stuff like **language** and **future mpreg**. So like, if you can't stand one of them, then please save yourself the embarrassment and go back right away. Because if you flame us, you'd just be making this story popular by adding more reviews.

"Speech."  
_Thoughts._

Sorry for the long wait! We hope we can compensate ya'll by making longer chapters!

* * *

A human's den was bigger on the inside than the outside, at least that's what Naruto thought when his new human bastard (he didn't know how else he should refer him as) took him to his home. The house was two stories high with beautiful trimmed trees around, sheltering the house with their broad limbs and oak leaves. It didn't seem like a fancy home, but it was sure better constructed with intricate designs and better taken care of than other dwellings Naruto had seen today.

In fact if he didn't know better, he'd say that Sasuke and his family were high in the human hierarchy. With foxes and other demons, the ones who are high in status in a clan usually had better made homes. That's why in his clan, Naruto and Minato lived in a large sized den filled with grass and leaves to sleep on. Most foxes don't even sleep inside a den unless it is constructed by themselves or high status like the elders. Nevertheless, some had to sleep in small holes that are a few feet below the ground.

Sasuke shifted the curious fox to his left arm without upsetting his leg, while his other hand reached for his keys in his pocket and unlocked the door. Interest and anticipation filled Naruto quickly, he moved to the left so he could see inside the place. He was nearly dropped as his long, bushy tails thumped against Sasuke's side.

Barely making a few steps inside, Sasuke struggled not to drop the fox as he tried to wiggle out of his grasp while excitedly sniffing the many smells of the home. It smelled nothing like his den, which smelled like dried leaves and grass, but it didn't mean he didn't like it. In fact he wanted to explore all these different smells. The whole house was covered by different scent. He recognized a few that were still fresh, such as Sasuke's own scent. There were other smells some old and some even older. He guessed that Sasuke did not live alone in this house.

"Stay still!" he growled when the fox nipped at his fingers and began to screech and make yapping noises, an obvious sign he's getting restless and stressed. For just one second Sasuke panicked, stress was bad for the kit especially in his condition.

_Put me down, dammit!_ Naruto barked louder.

Tsunade recommended that if the kit became too agitated, he should grab him by the scruff of the neck and let him hang for a few seconds. She told him that most mammals relaxed this way because they are reminded of their mothers. Although, with the way this small animal was growling and screeching, Sasuke resisted the urge to let him hang from his tails instead.

"Alright, alright, calm down I'm not going to hurt you," he assured him gently using the same kind of voice he used when he rescued him from the trap.

Evidently, nothing worked, for the fox continued wrestle and letting Sasuke know how much he despised being held against his will. Not wanting to attract the neighbors' attention and get reported with animal abuse, Sasuke quickly went inside the house and closed the door. He winced slightly when he was scratched deeply on his arm; the fox did not pay attention as he persisted with his struggle.

Taking Tsunade's advice, Sasuke grabbed a handful of gold-orange fur and let him hang from his scruff.

Immediately, the young fox stopped struggling in mid-growl. His tails wagged limply under him.

Letting him hang for a few extra seconds, Sasuke watched as the poor animal's mouth opened wide in a yawn, displaying sharp, white canines.

"Tired already? I guess I don't blame you, it's late already," he said softly.

He needed to make a bed for the kit to sleep. After all, if Sasuke wanted to get rid of him as soon as possible, he needed to make the fox comfortable to get better. As soon as he regained his strength and his leg healed completely, he'll take him back to the forest. And to make sure a situation like this one never happens again, he'll arrange a talk with the hunters in Konoha and persuade them to either get a new job or suffer through 72 hours in the Tsukoyomi.

He was quite tired himself. Training with his sensei had been hard today, leaving him starved. Sasuke set the kit down on the floor, going over to the kitchen to prepare dinner for both of them.

He searched inside the fridge, frowning slightly when he hardly found anything to cook, just a few fruits and vegetables. There was also a chicken breast that Sasuke was thinking about cooking for his brother when he came back the next day, but he could just buy another one later, along with more groceries.

Somewhere outside the kitchen, the blue-eyed kitsune barked cheerfully and immediately went around the room to explore his new surroundings. Most of the floors were made of a dark type of wood across the interior of the house, but here in this room, the floor was covered by a soft texture. It felt very good on his paws when he walked around.

Sniffing at the floor, he tried to dig through it with his non-injured paw.

Sasuke, of course noticed his intentions as he came after the fox to watch over him incase he destroyed valuable items or injure himself further. He pinched one black-tipped golden ear to make him stop.

"Usuratonkachi, stop it. You'll ruin the carpet." The brunet glared.

"Yap! Yap! Yap!" Naruto said which was roughly translated to: Don't you fucking do that again!

After their glaring contest, the golden kit resumed his task of exploring the room, which Sasuke called, "the leaving room." He didn't exactly know why it was called like that nor did he care. He was too busy circling the sofas to inspect them.

Scurrying underneath the couch, he sneezed a couple of times to get rid of the dust inside his nose.

_Sasuke-bastard needs to clean under here._

The next thing Naruto went out to explore was the few plants in the occasional corner. He happily smelled the soil of the flower pots and used his claws to dig some of the dirt, most of it ended on the floor.

Another thing that caught his eye was the chords coming out of a huge square-shaped, black box with a glass window. He didn't have a clue what the box was for, but the chords seemed fun to play with. They were covered with a black, soft material that actually felt good to chew with his teeth.

It seemed like he only had time to enjoy his new chew toy for a few seconds when he was pulled away roughly by Sasuke, making him yelp when he accidentally hit himself in the head with the wooden furniture.

"Tch, dobe. Don't chew on those. I'll have to take care of you longer if you get electrocuted."

Naruto growled as he was once again called dobe. He really hoped the bastard wasn't going to name him like that. Wait… he hoped the bastard wouldn't name him, period!

The kit shook his head, watching as some of his fur fell on the floor. _Not that I need to worry about that, the jerk doesn't seem like the type to name furry animals. _

Sasuke took the fox under his left arm. He looked for anything that could be used as a basket of some sort. He settled on using a plastic basket he found in the kitchen. Putting soft, old towels on the bottom of the basket, Sasuke placed the fox kit inside, finding it amusing when the fox began sniffing and chewing at the cotton towels.

Naruto blinked at what he guessed was his new bed. The towels he was laying under were surprisingly comfy. The basket was also big enough for all of his nine tails to curl comfortably next to him.

Figuring that Naruto was content in his make-shift bed, Sasuke made his way to the kitchen to continue making dinner. He had decided to make white rice with fried vegetables and some tempura for himself; he'll let the fox have the chicken.

_If foxes are omnivorous, then I guess a bit fruit will do as well. _

Meanwhile, back with Naruto, his curiosity was not yet satisfied, especially when he found out there were more rooms he could explore. Not to mention, there was a second floor. Naruto's tails twitched in excitement.

"Let's see, Sasuke-bastard just went in that direction where the smell of food is stronger. So I guess I should go to the opposite direction. It smells kinda weird though. Like- "

Naruto didn't have the time to finish his thoughts; Sasuke appeared with two small plates, one in each hand. The fox's nose twitched at the delicious smell of fresh fruits and cooked chicken. He was starved!

Sasuke smirked. "Looks like you are about to choke with own saliva, Usuratonkachi."

Naruto stopped himself from snarling and showing his teeth at the human, instead he approached Sasuke wagging his tails slowly.

Sasuke lowered the two plates on the floor. "Eat up; you look like you need it."

The fox stared at the kneeling boy in front of him.

_Bastard! Don't you know you're not supposed to watch someone eat their food?_

It's not like Naruto was uncomfortable eating in front of the human. It was actually that Naruto became aware of that Sasuke might have put something on the food and if the bastard wanted to watch him eat it, then he was probably waiting for something to happen.

Sasuke frowned when the small fox just stared at the plate of food. "I didn't poison it or put anything in it, if that's what you're thinking."

That wasn't completely true. He did put something in it. He had actually mixed the fruit and chicken with some tranquilizers Tsunade gave him to keep him sleepy and quiet for the rest of the day. Of course, he wasn't going to tell the fox that.

The vulpine cocked his head cutely.

Sasuke grabbed a piece of fruit with one hand and the fox with the other. If the fox kit was going to be uncooperative and stubborn then that's fine with him. After all, according to Itachi, he was just as determined and he will not give in that easily.

"I got things to do and I'm not going to wait until you decide to eat." With that said, he positioned a piece of chicken close to the fox's muzzle.

Naruto stubbornly pushed the pale hand holding the white meat with a small paw. He yapped angrily. "Bastard! I want to see you try it, and if nothing happens to you, then I'll eat it!"

Sasuke groaned in annoyance and gave up. He wasn't going to allow the fox to win this battle. If he wasn't going to eat it, then he is not going to eat at all today. He stood up and took the plates to the kitchen.

"Fine! You can starve yourself if you like."

After taking care of the dishes, the dark-haired placed the kitsune back in his box and carried him upstairs. It was getting very late, almost nearing an hour before midnight. All the day's worth was beginning to take its toll on both Sasuke and Naruto. Both of them now had to endure living with one another, when they were obviously inexperienced at these kinds of things.

Gently setting the large box next to his bed, Sasuke wearily changed clothes and slipped under the bed covers. As he was laying in his right side, he noticed the kit staring at him from his makeshift nest. Sasuke blinked. It almost seemed like the small fox was glaring at him.

Turning so his back faced the animal, the raven-haired finally dozed off.

Naruto shuffled and tried to find a comfortable position. His cast on his right leg made sleeping positions uncomfortable. He couldn't lie on his stomach because the cast was too bulky and made his shoulder ache. Lying on his back was just as bad, if not worse, since his leg couldn't bend at the wrist and elbow joints, it made it very painful to stay like that. The only position he favored was lying on his left side of his body while keeping the leg elevated on the rim of the basket. It was still a bit uncomfortable, but it's not like he had much choice according to the pain of his torn muscles and fractured bone. And to top it all, it itched! Naruto had to stop himself from biting the cast, not that it will make much of a difference since the cast was as hard as a rock.

About two hours had passed since the human boy fell asleep. He could easily tell thanks to his soft, almost unheard, snores and even breaths. The kit didn't know what he should do right about now. It was way out of his comfort zone he has been sleeping in his father's den since he was born, and even though before he had begged his dad to allow him to move out and find his own den, he couldn't help but miss the warmth emitted from his father's thick golden fur and the purring he made to rock his son to sleep.

Looking outside a large window, Naruto spotted the white-silvery light from the moon contrasting against the dark-blue sky of the night. A few stars were sprinkled around its pearly, crescent body of Hers guarding Her closely. As tradition proclaims around the Fox demons, the moon was referred as a She with respect, for She always kept sight of their pack as they hunted for prey during the night. And now through this night, She watched over the sleepless kit feeling lonely and vulnerable.

"I wish I could go back to the Fox Clan territory and apologize to my old man for all the chaos and mischievous pranks I pulled off as a kit," he said to the moon and the stars surrounding Her.

Naruto stared sadly at the darkened sky as all the stars winked at him. "I would do just about anything to be reunited with my father once again. I wish I could see the grasslands and my whole pack's faces again. I wish I could see Shikamaru with his lazy attitude, Chouji and his never ending appetite, and even Kiba and his cockiness."

A wave of longing and sorrow filled his heart with each beat. He will be lucky if he ever saw them again, even if Sasuke kept his promise (well, it wasn't exactly a promise, but he'll have to trust him) to take him back to the forest. He didn't even know which path to take to find the grasslands and the Fox territory. Of course, he shouldn't be worrying about that know, he first had to deal living side-by-side with this human to grow stronger and go back home.

With more determination and hope, the kit felt now a better sense of elated peace and growing fatigue.

But, he was incredibly hungry right now. His stomach painfully rumbled from the lack of food. And because he had refused Sasuke's food, he had no food to eat for the rest of the day. He tried to keep away his thoughts of anything edible but he only succeeded on promoting his hunger.

Naruto groaned as his stomach rumbled loud enough break the still silence in the room. _Why is that every time you try not to think of something you always end up doing it anyway?_ He asked himself mentally.

After looking around the room, the young kit tried to look for anything that he could eat, or at least chew on.

An hour passed, and Naruto's hunger was now staring to be unbearable. He settled on chewing the towels again. The soft, fluffy towels where obviously inedible, but right now he was willing to eat just about anything. Grabbing one of the blue towels by one of the corners, he ripped, tore, and shred it until he could chew on the small fibers and threads to fill his appetite.

After gnawing on the rags, however, the need to relieve his bladder was too much.

The young kit trotted over to his caretaker's bed, soft 'clicking' sounds echoed in the room as his claws hit the slippery hardwood floor.

Grabbing a mouthful of the blue satin covers, Naruto pulled and growled, shaking his white muzzle to wake the sleeping boy.

His efforts were in vain. The brunet just groaned and rolled over, fully prepared to ignore his new roommate. Seen as he wasn't going to get his way, Naruto let go of the covers and stepped back.

_It's time for plan two! _

Naruto threw his head back and howled. Not getting any reaction, Naruto began doing short, loud howls and barking noisily.

"What do you want?" Sasuke asked wearily, unconsciously letting his left hand drop from the bed to pat the soft fur on the fox's head.

Naruto softly nipped the dangling hand. _Bastard wake up, I need to pee!_

The young fox was once again ignored as Sasuke continued to run pale fingers through his golden coat.

He nipped harder. _Wake up asshole! Stop petting me like some kind of…wait, no! Don't stop! That feels good!_

"Go back to sleep, it's still dark."

Naruto chirped and allowed the human brunet to proceed with the petting.

Sasuke chuckled. "Where do you get all this energy?"

Naruto ignored him for the most part, he already turning into a puddle of goo by the petting. The way Sasuke ran his fingers across his head felt sent shivers across his back, especially when the human stroked his ears, softly running his fingernails up his ear before starting again once he reached the tip.

Purring slightly, Naruto almost didn't hear the brunet's sleep-induced question.

"What is it?" onyx colored eyes watched as the golden fox looked back and between the brunet and the bedroom door, somewhat whimpering.

Taking the hint, Sasuke moved the covers aside and bend down to pick up the small fox, who didn't protest as he was tucked comfortably under Sasuke's arm. The tired brunet and the mentally grinning fox made their way out of the bedroom and down the hall, down the stairs and out in the backyard. Sasuke carefully looked at the wiggling fox and figured that he needed to relieve himself.

_Finally! My bladder feels like it's gonna to explode! _He though as soon as Sasuke put him down on the grass.

Making happy purring noises, Naruto inhaled the dewy smell of wet grass, the earthy smell of pine and cedar, as well as the sweet nectar of the blooming flowers of spring. It almost smelled like back in the grasslands of his home, which was definitely making him homesick.

Forgetting where he was or who he was with, the young fox explored the enormous yard. He ran as fast as a crippled fox could run and stuck his nose on everything he could find. He chirped happily and rolled on the tall flowers and plants on a corner of the yard.

_Wait… corner?_

Naruto growled. That's right he was still at Sasuke-bastard's home. He just hopped that the human didn't witness him running around the yard like a headless chicken. That would've been humiliating.

No such luck. When Naruto limped over, he could see amusement written all over Sasuke's face, and the wide smirk adorned on the teen's face only aggravated the fox more.

Reaching down, Sasuke picked up the fox once more and went back inside. Back in the bedroom, Sasuke placed Naruto on his basket and went back to bed.

Naruto shifted. _Damn it! I didn't even get the chance to go!_

Climbing out of his box, Naruto pulled at the bed covers again and barked loudly.

Sasuke groaned. "What is it now?"

Once again, the small fox looked back and forth between him and the door.

Sasuke's eye twitched. "No."

_But I really have to go this time!_ Naruto barked. _Stop ignoring me asshole_.

After a few seconds Naruto growled. _Fine if that's how you want to play._

Barking louder to gain Sasuke's attention, he waited until charcoal-colored eyes opened, before running to his basket.

Sasuke emitted a hiss of breath. _That little runt!_

He was trying to purposely annoy him!

The annoyed teen rolled over and attempted to ignore the over energetic vulpine, and sleep for the next to hours that were left before he had to get up.

CRASH!

Sasuke winced, turning to face the curious fox, who was sniffing the earth from the broken flower pot he had just ruined. When he realized that he was been watched, Naruto ran to hide under the bed while making 'dook, dook, dook' sounds, obviously mocking the occupant of the bed.

"That's it!" Sasuke forcefully threw off the covers and stalked after the blue-eyed fox.

Bending down to reach under the bed, Sasuke stretched out an arm to reach out and grab the fox. He occasionally felt the soft pelt on the tip of his fingertips, but the now playful kit would get away before the brunet could grab a handful of fur. To bother and frustrate Sasuke further, whenever Naruto got the opportunity, he licked and nipped his hand and scurried away before he could take hold of him.

Unfortunately, Naruto wasn't expecting both of his hands to reach out and grab the one of his wiggling tails, nor was he expecting for him to pull it, hard.

Naruto yelped and dug his claws on the polished, hard wood floor.

"Come out you dumbass or I'll break your other legs!"

Sasuke pulled out the snarling and yelping fox by the tail and jumped back in bed. If the idiot fox would not sleep in his own bed, which was rather childish, then he'll force the kitsleep next to him.

_Sasuke! Let me go, that hurts!_ Naruto yelped again when he was pushed closer to Sasuke's chest in a tight hold. He squirmed some more, not noticing he used the human's name by accident, not that the said human could hear it anyway.

Sadly, his fidgeting and struggling against the human's strong hold ended up making his already wounded leg sting as if burning hot nails pierced his muscles over and over.

Sasuke immediately softened his grasp on the fox and gently placed him on the bed covers, hoping that the new position would make the whining stop.

"Hey sorry about that, but that was your fault too." Sasuke stroke his back, trying to massage his tense shoulder muscles.

"Lay down," Sasuke ordered, Naruto could hardly complain.

Sasuke pulled back the covers on the both of them and settled awkwardly on the bed, pulling the poor, whimpering animal closer to his chest.

Naruto gave an exhausted sigh and became limp, his muscles relaxing and immobilizing. He might as well get comfortable then. Resting his head and his injured right leg on the human's chest, he curled himself under his arm keeping his tails on top of Sasuke's stomach. This felt better than sleeping in uncomfortable positions in the basket.

After making sure Sasuke's onyx-colored eyes were closed, Naruto narrowed his eyes into slits and glared deeply at the human under him. _I'm not giving up, you jerk! I'll make your life a living hell!_

--

Despite the many mental threats, Naruto woke up warm and comfortable. And although it was disturbing he felt that comfortable with a human, it was still kind of odd that he slept better than he had in days.

To Naruto's complete horror and shock, he found himself curled up next to the human's stomach, while Sasuke was sleeping on his side with one hand gently around Naruto small torso.

Shifting slightly, Naruto fought the urge to bite the pale hand stroking his back in his sleep.

Unfortunately for Naruto, his shifting caused for Sasuke to waken from his light sleep. Closing his eyes and leveling his breaths, Naruto relaxed and hoped that the bastard wouldn't react badly to their proximity.

--

Sasuke woke up with something warm and soft next to his stomach, it wasn't until he opened his eyes and saw for himself that the warmth beside his stomach was none other than the vulpine he had rescued the day before. But what surprised him was how his arm and hand was loosely wrapped around the still sleeping fox.

_Well at least I didn't accidentally crush him in my sleep_.

Figuring he might as well take advantage of the fact that the annoying fox was still asleep, Sasuke raised the hand wrapped around the golden fox kit and patted the soft fur of his back. Long fingers lightly traced the small spine before grabbing and studying the many tails that curled and twitched when he touched them.

Up close, Sasuke could see the soft coat was actually a combination of gold, orange, and pale-yellow hairs. This beautiful animal could have probably been skinned by now if Sasuke had left him where he found him. As weird as it sounded, Sasuke had saved this small creature's life.

Ignoring the strange, fuzzy feeling in his chest, Sasuke frowned and retrieved his hand from the fox next to him. He sat up, carefully making sure not to disturb the sleeping animal.

The young Uchiha got out of bed and dressed quickly. He only had forty minutes before he had to meet his teacher, Kakashi, for a spar on the training grounds for their daily training sessions. As a ninja, he had to train to become a shinobi worthy of protecting the village of Konoha along with his teammates.

His goal was to reach, or even surpass, his older brother's abilities to compensate his father's last wishes while he and his mother still lived. Itachi, his older and only sibling was always his father's favorite, although his mother always denied it and told him they were both loved equally; he did not believe her. But now that they were gone, killed by one man whose hatred of Konoha drove him to attack the village and murder every man, woman, and child that stood on his way. That man, known as Orochimaru had not come back since then to finish the destruction of the village. Now, Itachi was a well respected ANBU captain, while Sasuke was still a Chuunin.

Shaking those thoughts out of his mind, Sasuke swiftly left his room and went down the stairs to the kitchen.

Naruto opened one blue eye and searched for the brunet. Finding no trace of him except for his scent and the still warm covers, he sighed in relief and sat up to stretch cramped muscles.

Naruto yawned widely and sniffed the air. Immediately his mouth watered at the smell of food.

Thankfully, the bastard had left the door semi-open probably just so he could get out by himself.

Climbing down the bed was a difficult and not to mention a painful task for his right front leg. He dug his claws on the edge of the bed and hung on the covers, after a few seconds to prepare himself, he let go and landed on top of his tails with a thump.

Naruto whimpered and his eyes watered slightly. Okay so that wasn't the smartest thing to do. Now his tails and his right leg now hurt, sending small shock pains around his body.

He ran clumsily to the door and managed to squeeze between the small space.

Knowing the way thanks to the midnight trip outside, he limped down the hallway, staring curiously at the portraits of what he thought was Sasuke's family.

He passed the picture of a serious-looking adult male with a cold, piercing look that Naruto could have sworn that he had seen on Sasuke a few times already.

_Probably his father._

The next portrait showed a beautiful young woman. It didn't take long for Naruto to realize this was Sasuke's mother, they were almost identical! The young fox stared at the soft smile on the woman's face sadly. He missed his own mother. And this woman reminded him of the same look his mother used to give him when he got in trouble, or when she shared her portion of food with him even after he already had his own. Sniffing, Naruto turned his head away from the portrait, he wouldn't think about this now.

_Figures a pretty boy like Sasuke would take after his mother._ He panted in laughter.

The portrait next to the woman made Naruto take a double turn; this guy looked like Sasuke except a few years in the future. And excluding the lines under his eyes, this guy looked like Sasuke's twin. Cold, hard, red eyes seemed to stare back at Naruto. It was creepy, they almost seemed like they moved no matter where he went.

Naruto shuddered and moved on, limping to the last portrait at the end of the hallway.

This one made Naruto catch his breath. Sasuke's portrait stared back, an emotionless expression on his face just like the rest of the family, though; Naruto could see happiness and a bit of gentle, warm light in those black eyes he has never seen before.

Cocking his head, Naruto briefly wondered how many years was it since this portrait was painted. This Sasuke looked young, but then again, Naruto wasn't familiar with the ageing process of humans.

Tearing his gaze of the beautiful picture, Naruto continued down the hall. At the end of the hallway, Naruto gave an exhausted sigh.

Too many stairs.

_Great, if I stay here, I'll die of starvation and if I don't, I'll die of exhaustion._

Weighting his options, exhaustion sounded better than starvation. He walked down the stairs slowly and carefully, scouting around for anything that might make his steps more difficult or trip him while he descended down. He began by turning around and letting his back legs down the steps first, than bringing his uninjured leg down as well. He took a step at a time, and never rushed himself.

Many, many stairs later, Naruto was heavily panting by the time he reached the delicious smell and followed the fragrance to the kitchen. Keeping his right leg elevated from the ground to avoid more injury, he limped towards that direction.

He came across a distinctive room with a beautiful wooden, hand-carved table with matching chairs. There was also a tall, large, white box with handle bars. Modern counter tops and cabinets decorated the kitchen and every piece of furniture including the sink and stove was polished and spotless.

Naruto saw Sasuke with his back turned towards him facing the stove, preparing a bowl of rice and a few vegetables for himself in a wide, large pan and fish for the hungry kit.

Naruto barked. _Food! Finally!_

The raven-haired turned at the sound. Bending down to pick up the famished kit, he carried him outside to do his business.

Frankly, Naruto didn't need to go to the bathroom now, but his growling stomach told him to appease the human. The faster he did this, the faster he'll get food.

As soon as he was done doing his business, Naruto was once again picked up and carried back inside, much to Naruto's displeasure.

_You jerk! I might be crippled, but I can still walk! Or limp!_

Sasuke laid two bowls, one containing small pieces of cooked fish and the other containing water. He sat on a chair next to the kitchen table to eat his food and watched the fox with curiosity. This time, he did not mix tranquilizers with the food. Yesterday's ordeal told that the fox would know if he did it again. And since the fox was seriously vacuuming his food, Sasuke realized the fox did know it was clean.

_He couldn't have been starving could he? Well, he does look like a runt. We're going to have to change that, or else I'll never be rid of you. _

When he found him, the small fox kit listened as if he could understand what he was saying. In fact, despite the young appearance of the fox, the animal seemed more intelligent than what he seemed. Sasuke wanted to test that, now that he was done with his breakfast.

"Hey," he said quietly.

Naruto paused his eating stared at him and went back to gobbling his food.

Sasuke tried again. "Hey!"

The fox's ears twitched at his direction but didn't look from his bowl.

Sasuke smirked. "Hey, dimwit!"

The fox stopped eating and turned his gaze towards him with a low growl, teeth showing as his lips curled in a snarl.

_Teme! Don't call me that!_

Sasuke's smirk widened. "You'll be staying in the backyard today until I get back. I expect my house to be the way it is now. If it's not, then kiss your tails good-bye."

Naruto narrowed his eyes. _Hell no, you're not leaving me here, you jerk! How am I supposed to annoy you if you're not here?_ He glared at the brunet. _I'm coming with you whether you like it or not._

Despite the pain in his leg, he followed Sasuke through his daily routine of cleaning up the kitchen, tiding up his bedroom, and getting ready to go out by grabbing the keys of his house and locking all windows just incase.

Sasuke noticed the soft whines of pain as he came down the stairs with the fox following hot on his heels. Apparently, the fox kit preferred to be in physical pain than being alone. That was quite understandable, he probably missed his mother, but if he didn't stop following him like love-sick puppy, he could add too much stress to his injured leg.

He stopped abruptly, almost making the fox crash into his legs.

"If you keep following me around like that, you'll hurt yourself more and I'll be forced to take care of you much longer. Just stay in one place."

Naruto growled. _Hell no!_

Sasuke frowned and picked up the kit and took him to the backyard. He had already left a bowl of water and some berries incase he got hungry in the shade of an oak tree, and a nest of his old t-shirts were placed in a cool, shady corner of the yard.

Trying a different approach, he softly patted the fox's head and ears, which caused them to twitch. Naruto stared quizzically at the brunet after the peculiar action. Sasuke didn't seem the type to be affectionate to small animals or anything for that matter.

"Alright, stay and behave." Using his palm to pat him one last time, he stood up and made his way to the door.

Naruto wasn't about to let him go at least without taking him. He yapped until the other turned and faced him.

"Be quiet!"

The fox barked louder then he began to howl.

"Be quiet, dobe!"

"Bark!"

Closing his eyes, Sasuke rubbed his left temple. "Listen here, because I already know you can understand me, it's too early in the morning to get a headache, but you already put me close to a migraine. Either you shut up or I'll _make_ you shut up."

Naruto cocked his head innocently, apparently enjoying pushing the other's buttons and barked exactly like how he'd seen smaller kits did to appear cute to their parents.

The noise simply made Sasuke shake his head. "Cut out the innocent act, if this keeps up I'll personally escort you back to the forest and hand you back to the hunters you were supposed to be with right now. You can annoy them all you want, I'm sure they'll let you have those few moments of bliss."

Naruto grinned wolfishly at the different face expressions of the human, not taking any of the threats seriously.

_You would never do such a thing, Sasuke-bastard._ _If you wanted me gone, you would've gotten rid of me long ago. _Naruto twitched his ears back and forth and he grinned at him.

Sasuke retreated back to the house with Naruto following him faithfully to his room. In there, he watched as Sasuke knelt in front of his closet and dig through his stuff, looking for something. Naruto tried to look over his shoulder to see what he was looking for, but found it so much easier to just jump on top the boy's back to see better. Naruto yelped though, when he was shrugged off and hit the floor hard.

After a few seconds of searching and throwing things around, Sasuke backed away from the closet with a small, black _something_ that Naruto had never seen before.

Naruto jumped around Sasuke's legs eagerly, curiosity overwhelming him. _What is that? What is it for?_

The brunet ignored the golden blur that was going surprisingly fast around his legs and while holding to a black strap, he took hold of a small piece of metal attached to it and tugged at it.

Naruto's ears twitched at the loud, annoying sound.

Blue eyes stared up at amused onyx-colored pools in bewilderment as he circled the human cautiously, almost as if the black thing in Sasuke's hand was ready to attack.

Sasuke's lips twitched in a small smile. "Moron, it's not going to hurt you, it's just a bag with a zip lock, that's what made the sound."

Naruto was puzzled, at first he didn't know what Sasuke had in mind, but when he was pricked up by the scruff and shoved inside the bag, he felt overly excited. He tried wagging his tails, but there was hardly enough space. Nevertheless, he felt enthusiastic.

_He's taking me with him!_

Once ready, Sasuke left his house with his shoulder-bag and a curious fox pocking his head out of it, panting in excitement, while Sasuke just gave a look and then ignored him.

_Kakashi is gonna kill me._

Naruto mentally grinned and barked at Sasuke's odd look as in mocking him.

"Hn."

--

"Where is he?"

Minato ran at top speed towards the Dog Clan's territory, which was only a few miles away from the Fox Clan's territory. The place was surrounded by thin forests of oak, birch, and aspen, compared to the grasslands of the Fox territory.

He had suspected that his son stayed with them for the night and he would come back this morning. However, Minato had woken up alone inside his den. He wasn't mad about that, he was just upset that his son could not find the time to at least give him a message or told someone he was staying with a friend. So he ended up waiting for him until the sun stood high on the sky.

Minato had waited and waited, but Naruto had not come back yet. He figured that may be he was already playing with his friends and lost track of time. Therefore, he decided to look for him and then give him a nice bite in his ears as punishment.

"He is going to be grounded for a month when I find him."

He had to ask permission first. Being Hokage had its perks and advantages, but still, he could not trespass another clan's territory without permission. Of course, the clan's elder agreed with no problem or hesitation. Just about every demon knew about the Hokage's son and his wild and mischievous activities.

The fox trotted quickly around the den. A number of the dog demons who were sleeping or laying down raised their heads in surprise at the new guest, but immediately bowed their heads, pulled their ears back, and made sure their tails didn't go as high as the fox's.

Minato first looked for Kiba, his son's friend, who was curled into a ball, sleeping comfortably on bed of grass and leaves.

He nudged the puppy with his paw to wake the dog, completely startling him.

"What? Can't you see that I'm sleep- oh shit! I'm sorry Namikaze-san. I didn't know it was you I thought you were my stupid sister… not that you look like my sister, but I assumed-"

"Kiba! It's alright, I didn't mean to startle you. I just came for my son."

The dog blinked tiredly. "Eh? You mean Naruto?"

Minato rolled his eyes. _Who else?_

Kiba continued, not seeing the odd look from Minato, "well, sorry to say this Namikaze-san, but he's not here." The dog shifted some of the grass and made himself comfortable once again.

Minato's heart suddenly felt heavier at the comment.

"Well, is he with his other friends?" he managed to ask.

Kiba yawned. "I don't really know if he is with any of the guys, but the last time I saw him was yesterday after we went out to hunt for mice and we-"

Minato cut him off. "Wait a minute! You two went hunting alone without adult supervision?! Not to mention you left the grass plains without permission as well?!"

Kiba gulped, his eyes widened at his mistake. "I-I… well that is…"

Seeing that the puppy was about to wet himself, Minato relaxed his stance. "Alright forget about that, so you have no idea where he could be?"

Kiba frantically shook his head, making brown, shaggy hair more ruffled. "No sir."

Minato hurried back to the Fox Clan's territory more anxiously than before. New fears were added to his already long list of things that could possibly be wrong, provoking him to sprint in a much greater speed. He'll go search for his son in the Owl Clan and the Bear Clan. If he couldn't find him there, he'll send scouts on every neighboring clan to search the kitsune.

"You are in so much trouble, Naruto."

* * *

Thank ya'll for all the great reviews and support we've received for this fic.

I personally didn't think this fic would have much potential at the beginning, or that I was going to continue it, but you guys have pretty much changed my mind. We'll continue this fic and the others to support the best yaoi couple!

Sorry it took so long to update, but unfortunately we have been diagnosed with this strange disease called **Laziness** which is now spreading through the air because it's summer.

Nevertheless, please do not give up on us! We beg you!

We'll continue updating as fast as we possibly can!

Don't forget to review! We wanna know how you feel about this chapter, unless you absolutely hated it. We have taken to consideration all of your reviews. Our aim is to make SasuNaru the best and please the readers. So bring on the critisim!

We love you all! Oh, and by the way can anyone tell us if it's allowed in to respond to reviews in the chapters?

-Iemitsu-Sachi


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Neither Sachi nor Iemitsu owns Naruto.

Warnings: **Shounen ai**,** yaoi**, **ooc-ness**, **bad writing style**, **bad grammar** (even after been edited by both of us), and other stuff like **language** and **future mpreg**. So like, if you can't stand one of them, then please save yourself the embarrassment and go back right away. Because if you flame us, you'd just be making this story popular by adding more reviews.

"Speech."

_Thoughts._

NOTE TO READERS: We have noticed that many of you are wondering about how this fic will contain an mpreg if Naruto is a fox… well the answer is pretty obvious. Naruto will transform human of course! We didn't want to spoil the surprise but most of you have already guessed anyways. Enjoy!

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Kakashi Hatake has probably been through more surprising and thrilling experiences than anyone alive in Konoha. The tally of the many heart-stopping moments in his life most likely rivaled those of the Hokage's (1). It was only thanks to the Shinobi code that his sanity had been saved more than once, a real ninja never allowed his emotions to control his mind. That rule was imprinted on him harshly as a child. Those encounters were almost sort of carved into his skin, leaving long, deep scars as mementos. Eventually, everything began to feel numb to him. Hardly any mission left a hint of surprise in him now. However, no amounts of training or missions could've prepared him for this situation.

His current student, always ambitiously serious and impassive, walked into the training grounds at the same leisured pace he was always accustomed of using. Sasuke, his first and only student, was the only one to pass his test to become his pupil, he was a fast learner with the same silent grace that of a feline but the power and ferocity of a wolf. The youngest Uchiha was an orphan like himself with a possibly matching broken childhood.

It didn't surprise Kakashi to see his trainee wearing a bag over his shoulder, as he strode over then stopped when he was right in front of him. No, what nearly blew the jounin's hair away was the object inside the pouch.

A golden-furred fox with nine tails and a cast on its front leg sprouted out of the bag as soon as the raven-haired placed it on the ground. The said fox, limped happily around the vicinity, enjoying the fresh outdoors with delight. He first enjoyed the feel of dirt under the pads of his feet, before sniffing the unique scent of wild cherry trees combined with foliage of mint and wildflower blossoms.

It was then that he took sight of the two persons, who were staring with puzzled expressions. Naruto let of a loud bark and limped around them, sniffing and yapping excitedly.

By now Kakashi was horribly confused, he never saw it coming from his indifferent and lord-of-the-emoness student be compassionate to animals. But then again, anyone that met the silver-haired man would never expect him to read the infamous porn novels by Jiraiya-sensei and giggle at the most obscene parts, so he guessed he shouldn't judge his student too severely.

The scarecrow decided to ignore the furry animal. "Ahem… yes, well I'm glad you could make it Sasuke. Today we're going to work on ninjutsu and close combat." He blinked when the fox kit nudged his ankle with his wet nose and nipped at the dark blue fabric of his uniform pants.

"Now first, it's important to reme-"

"Yap! Yap! Yap!" The jounin was interrupted abruptly by the excited fox limping around his legs without taking his bright blue eyes off of him similarly as a predator stalking his prey.

Sasuke frowned and reached down for him, cursing when the over-energetic vulpine slipped from his fingers and panted in laughter. "Shut up, usuratonkachi!" The Uchiha grabbed the kit by the scruff of the neck and shoved him inside the forgotten bag. "If you want to keep living, you better shut up!" Naruto yelped when his vision became dark and growled, squirming and using his claws to rip his way out of the pouch. Getting out proved to be a bad idea, since the pale hand kept pushing his head down inside, almost suffocating him in there.

Naruto growled, the skin over his muzzle wrinkled as he bared his teeth and snapped at Sasuke's hand. The human cussed softly and switched methods, patting the unruly golden fur until the animal breathed softly through his nose and sat still.

An awestruck Kakashi watched as the powerful, fur-covered shoulder muscles relaxed visibly as his student's hand caressed the fox's head in short strokes. The jounin never expected a shinobi like Sasuke be soft towards any kind of animal, much less a wild animal.

_Wild or not,_ Kakashi thought, _this is not a regular fox._

It was well covered, not to mention a tad strange and unusual, but it was still there. The fox projected small amounts of chakra during his struggle with his human caretaker. It would explain why the animal was so domesticated compared to other wild foxes; it probably belonged to a shinobi, working similarly like nin-hound.

Kakashi hummed at his musings and saw how the fox practically melted like butter under Sasuke's hand, the low growling noises he heard earlier sounded a lot like purring ones now.

Sasuke shook his head at how easy the annoying fox had changed attitudes with just a few touches. This time more gently, the human pushed Naruto's head under the pouch; there was neither struggle nor resistance. Naruto just allowed the human to keep him inside, his blue eyes still half-lidded from the petting.

Taking advantage of the fox's quiet behavior, Sasuke motioned to Kakashi to start. The two nins begun their spar while the little fox watched with serious interest at the occasional cloud of dust that would appear at missed hits or one of the men was thrown on the ground. But it wasn't until Sasuke's hands moved in strange motions and electric-blue sparks emerged from his left hand that Naruto's mouth opened in shock.

_This is pretty cool! Sasuke-bastard can use jutsu too! I wonder if the other guy can do it too. _As if on cue, the silver-haired human made those hands movements and slammed his right hand on the ground, the earth beneath Sasuke rumbled and caved in. Sasuke barely had time to jump away before he was almost buried alive. Naruto wagged the tips of his tails in excitement, ocean-blue eyes never straying too much from the fight._ Man! I can't wait until I tell dad 'bout this!_ _The old fox is going to flip!_

The thrilled fox was too caught up in the fight, he never once thought about the nostalgic sadness from the night before. Instead, he kept track of the whole fight, staring with a new type of awe at his talented babysitter.

Until, he decided to join the fight too.

--

The sparring with the silver-haired man was going as usual as always, Sasuke was fighting with all his might, using every chance and energy to finally defeat his teacher. Kakashi had told him that this would be the last day they would be going over everything his pupil has learned, and if Sasuke defeated him in a spar, the perverted jounin would recommend him to the Hokage and allow him to take the Jounin Exam.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. The earth technique Kakashi had used was a trademark of his, but it wasn't meant to be an offensive attack. It had been more like a test to see how much he could poke and jab at his student before he attacked. But Sasuke had learnt none other but from his brother that the first man to attack always had the disadvantage. And the chuunin wasn't about to leave an easy opening for the silver-haired nin.

He launched forward and lashed out a swift kick at the other's most vital point, his neck. Kakashi brought up an arm to block the stunning force of the hit. In spite of a successful defense, the fierceness of the attack left his arm throbbing with white searing pain.

Kakashi reached into his vest pocket and retrieved a kunai. The weapon was then projected straight into the younger nin's heart, only for it to disappear in a huge explosion of white smoke.

The ex-Anbu blinked quickly, trying to see through the heavy mist of the bushin's detonation. He tensed, a shadow moved slyly somewhere from his left. Kakashi used his right hand to twirl another kunai, momentarily shinning from the reflected sunlight, ready to counterattack.

But the shadow, as it sped closer, became smaller and smaller before taking shape in something Kakashi had not predicted. It wasn't the slim yet strong frame that attacked him, nor did the shadow's eyes turn a glowing blood-red color as he was expecting. Sasuke's movements were like his personality, cool and languid, almost serenely-dangerous. However, the shadow ran at full speed in distracting zigzags, changing directions spontaneously.

And before he knew it, the smoke disappeared completely, revealing the shadow's sky eyes, narrowed in slits. Kakashi could barely move his body out of the way before the feral animal's jaws closed on his arm.

"You moron! Get out of here you're putting off the fight!"

The little vulpine wasn't too saddened by the failure of his attack. Instead the fox panted in laughter and gave Sasuke what had looked like a grin as a warning before running around the angrily approaching Uchiha. Naruto effortlessly jumped on his back then on his head, his soft bushy tail wrapped around his head making some sort of furry hat.

_There! You look like a grumpy old lady, Sasuke-bastard! _Naruto chuckled, sounding a lot like coughed up grunts and howls.

It was complete chaos after that. Kakashi had to risk his own safety to try and stop Sasuke from drilling a hole into the fox with the Chidori, the training grounds definitely had seen better days.

--

It was a few hours later when Sasuke and Naruto returned home. The brunet avoided the temptation of throwing the small fox outside of his house before entering. He took a deep breath to suppress the rage from erupting. Shame and frustration shook him with little bolts of electricity. Never has he ever been embarrassed like this. His own teacher was probably giggling uncharacteristically right now. Taking the injured fox with him was one of his worst ideas (not counting the time he set his neighbor's property on fire when he was practicing the katon jutsu as a child). And he refused to calm down until the brainless vermin looked at least one percent guilty, but the fox just made those 'dook dook' sounds he did when he was mischievous and content and limped away before Sasuke could throttle him.

Sighing loudly, the brunet made his way towards his bathroom hoping for a nice, relaxing bath. Naruto's ears perked up at the soft padding sounds of his feet and followed him upstairs, yawning widely. Halting, Sasuke whirled around and scowled.

"Stay outside, you have already passed the line today, you damn waste of space," he nearly growled. If he could, Naruto would have winced. He guessed Sasuke-bastard didn't appreciate what happened this morning. If it was somebody else, Naruto would probably feel guilty and try to fix it by playing cute. But since it was the ice-prick they were talking about, Naruto just twitched his ears and followed the human to the hallway. The Uchiha attempted to keep the fox outside the bathroom by slamming the door, but Naruto had cunningly squeezed inside before it was shut. "Tch."

_Maybe I can drown him in the bathtub. _Sasuke growled mentally and gripped the hem of his blue shirt to pull it over his head, throwing it into the hamper in the corner to wash later.

Naruto's eyes widened as alarms mysteriously started going off in his head

_Wait! Bastard! Don't do that in front of me! Damn it, so much for annoying you._ Something was off. He shouldn't be feeling this awkward and uncomfortable just by seeing more and more alabaster skin, unmarred and glowing as the light of the moon during a cloudless night. Okay, now that was weird, just look away Naruto, the fox thought to himself frantically.

Alas, Naruto couldn't look away from the revealed soft skin of the human's chest nor he couldn't look away when Sasuke hooked his thumbs inside his pants and pulled them downwards.

_I'm turning into a pervert!_ His eyes followed Sasuke's form half-naked form messed with the bathtub's faucet until the water's temperature seemed to please him. Once the bathtub was half full, the last piece of clothing joined the rest of Sasuke's clothes in the hamper.

Naruto whimpered, and laid his confused head on the hard surface of the floor, enjoying the brief icy feeling that cooled him before the spot warmed. He didn't know why he was so disturbed, he guessed it was because he never seen a human without the customary clothes on. It was uncomfortable to see not to mention embarrassing for some reason or another.

With glazed eyes he watched as Sasuke shivered and quickly got inside the tub, sighing in relief as the lukewarm water relaxed his muscles. He felt as if the water washed all of the effects of the morning's incident.

Sasuke turned his head to stare at the usually energetic animal that was now curled up in a quiet ball of fur; even his twitching tails were limp to match his mood. The brunet frowned. Was the idiot sick? Maybe this morning's breakfast unsettled his stomach, but if that was the case, it would of have gotten him sick just a few minutes after eating. Maybe he got hurt in the fight?

Well, whatever it was, it was eerie. Sasuke didn't know whether to enjoy the newly found silence or be worried that there was something wrong with the annoying pest he was slowly, very slowly, was starting to become part of his life.

Perhaps using the usual tactic would make the vermin spring up like normal. Sasuke smirked and flicked some water over the laying fox, onyx-colored pools filled with playful mirth. "Are you just going to stay there, dobe?" He cupped his palms together to gather as much water as he could before flinging it at Naruto who looked up with a flash of irritation at the sound of his voice.

The water hit dead on. "Yap! Yap! Yap! Yap!" Naruto shook his head from side to side; small beads of water flew everywhere. Turning the tables, Naruto climbed on top of the bathtub with difficulty. Once he was balanced on the edge of the tub, Naruto saw a curious expression on Sasuke as he dipped all his nine tails in the water. The gold-orange fur quickly soaked up enough water for Naruto to use as wet whips, sending large amounts of water at a surprised Sasuke.

Naruto's jaws opened in a demonic grin. _Take that you prick! I hope you enjoy chocking on your own dirt and grime! _He laughed as the human's face flushed as he tried to cough up the water that he inhaled accidentally. Unfortunately, Sasuke had leaned forward instantly at the beginning of his chocking, allowing Naruto to see his lower body clearly through the water. Now it was Naruto's time to choke.

Never once bringing his gaze further than well toned, pale legs, Naruto never saw the frightening, blood-chilling glare Sasuke sent him.

"Don't drop your guard, dobe!" came as a warning, before a huge (in Naruto's opinion) wave of water enveloped him, nearly throwing him off of the bathtub's edge.

"Arrg! Damn it you prick! Now I'm wet and covered in your jerk germs. I better not catch that pole-in-the-ass disease of yours!" Naruto barked out, shaking his body to get as dry as possible.

Sasuke chuckled at the sight of the wet, angry fox. "You have no idea how much you resemble a drowned rat right now, usuratonkachi."

_That bastard is not going to compare Uzumaki Naruto son of the Hokage to a rodent!_

The brunet jumped when the golden fox leaned over the tub and bit the pale skin of his knee that was available, everything else was under water. It wasn't hard enough to draw blood, only enough to turn the skin into a crimson color and aggravating the owner.

"If that's how you're going to play idiot then who am I to stop you? But I think you should know…" Sasuke's charcoal eyes tinted red, the three tomoe in each eye begun to spin rapidly, "I tend to hold grudges quickly."

Naruto bared his canines at the Uchiha and growled as if to say 'bring it on, duck-ass!' no longer remembering that he was supposed to keep his eyes lowered.

And that was how the praiseworthy water war begun.

---

A very clean fox kit was asleep in a fluffy, warm pillow under the kitchen table were Sasuke was working on his assignments for his tutor Umino Iruka. Since the fox's cast on his leg had gotten wet, Sasuke had no choice but to take him to Tsunade for another. This time, she warned him that he should wrap up the cast with a plastic bag if he was going to give him a bath.

Still, even after the reprimanding, the small smile on his face was impossible to take off no matter how much he wanted it off. It was years before he had time to 'waste time' as his brother sometimes put it. And though, the playful banter in the bathtub- the words made him wince, that sounded wrong - put him behind on his assignments, it was definitely worth it.

Ever since he became a Chuunin, Itachi had hired him a personal trainer and a private tutor. Now thanks to that, he was close to becoming a jounin at the age of sixteen. Or at least he would have if he had passed Kakashi's test and defeated him. Sasuke grunted, sneaking a look at the sleeping fox with the corner of his eyes. Somehow, he just couldn't stay mad with the vulpine anymore.

Knocks on the door not only interrupted his thoughts, they also woke the slumbering fox kit. The latter just buried his head further in the pillow, fully intending to ignore the pestering noises. Sasuke sighed wistfully, hoping that the kit would stay asleep. But he knew better, he wasn't that lucky.

_Great, just when it was so quiet. _The Uchiha grumbled mentally and headed toward the entrance to open the door, a dark cloud looming over him.

"Hi Sasuke-kun!" Ino and Sakura greeted him gleefully and invited themselves in. Sasuke, with an annoyed grimace, watched as the two girls glared at each other heatedly as soon as they both stepped inside the cozy home.

Behind the two girls came Hinata, a sweet but shy girl and probably the only one that Sasuke could stand. After her, Neji, her cousin and close friend, came in. He followed Hinata everywhere she went, since he had self-appointed himself as her bodyguard of some sorts. Shino came in after, he was a quiet boy in his class, or at least Sasuke thought he was in his class. Shino sometimes was so quiet you could forget he was there, watching you behind those dark glasses of his. And finally, with eye-catching green clothes, Rock Lee followed in. With a bizarre way of speech and bowl-cut hair cut, it was hard to forget about him.

Sasuke bit his tongue to stop it from forming obscenities that he was sure were coming. "What are you people doing here?" Sasuke asked softly but with a hint of impatience. His uninvited guests' chattering and the sudden joyous laughter of the girls as they tried to coax him for dates woke Naruto from his sleep in the kitchen.

"Oh Sasuke-kun your looking very nice tonight!" A dark crimson color flooded the blonde girl's cheeks as she batted her eyelashes at him.

The raven-haired rolled his eyes at both the gesture and the comment. He thought, but as much as he wanted these people out, he motioned for everybody to have a seat in the living room.

Taking this as a sign of encouragement, the girls squealed loudly at his polite and courteous manners, while mumbling something about 'Sasuke being a gentleman' or something.

However the squealing and chattering coming from all people, managed to startle the poor fox. And just as he realized they were not alone, his eyes scrambled around the room for the black-haired shinobi.

_Where did Sasuke-bastard go?_ He couldn't help thinking that something happened to his caretaker.

Startled at the noise, he limped to hide under the sofa where he could see that two humans were seating. He couldn't see their faces, since the back of the sofa was towards him, but he could tell that by their small these two were kin or leaving together in the same den. Curious, he couldn't help but to peak his head out to see.

_Were did all these humans come from?_

"So, how you've been Sasuke-kun?" Sakura tried her best not to blush when her crush fixed his eyes on her, she bravely held his gaze before adverting her stare lower to his hands which were calmly gripping the arm chairs of the sofa. He really had nice hands; she thought how it would feel like as those hands stroked her hair soothingly. She blushed again and shook those thoughts out of her head.

"Fine," he replied indifferently. All he wanted was for them to leave so he could finish his work. But he knew that if his brother found he had been disrespectful to his guests, he would most likely make sure Sasuke wouldn't be able to participate from any missions. His brother could be quite persuasive and a terribly good liar, who knows what kind of lies he would spew out to the Hokage.

Ino smiled widely. "Well Sasuke-kun, we came to ask you if you were busy so we could invite you to come with us to the movies." She squealed as if he had already accepted the invitation.

Sasuke cringed. He knew that if he accepted the invitation, he would be forced to sit between those two girls at the movie theater and watch a chick-flick while they made gooey eyes at him whenever the protagonist male and main girl kiss each other. For some reason, to girls it was some sort of cue to start making out; or they might even try to hold his hand if they watched a horror film. So of course, his answer was definite.

He answered smoothly, his voice polished of any emotion just like his brother used on infuriating women, "I was thinking of going to bed now." A chorus of disappointed sighs from both Sakura and Ino nearly caused Naruto to growl; Sasuke was behaving like an asshole again. Naruto knew he was lying about going to sleep now; he would probably stay all night finishing his assignments.

Not wanting for his crush to be disappointed even if it meant letting her be with his rival, Lee quickly checked his watch. "It's only 9:43, Sasuke-san! There's still plenty of time to sleep after a nice movie," Lee said joyfully.

"Come on Sasuke-kun! It'll be fun!" Ino pressed on. Everybody was looking at him tentatively, except for Neji who was instead looking around the decors over the chimney while Shino's gaze was caught on the sofa Neji and Hinata were sitting on, sensing something quite small, yet oddly powerful.

Before Sasuke repeated his refusal, Naruto slowly came out from his hiding spot and accosted the crowd, or more specifically Sasuke.

He wasn't noticed until he reached the brunet's legs clamped his jaws on the other's black cotton pants. Sasuke looked down, the corner of his lips pulling upwards into a ghost of a smile and reached down to pick up the fox from the scruff of his neck.

"Oh!" Sakura said, making everybody turn to look at her. "I didn't know you had a cat Sasuke-kun."

Ino scoffed. "It's not a cat, it's a dog!" she argued before she clapped her hands at Naruto. "Your pet is very cute, Sasuke-kun! Here boy!"

Naruto's eye twitched from where he was hanging. _I am not a dog! Much less Sasuke-bastard's pet!_

Taking the fox by surprise, Sasuke shifted him until he was somewhat unconventionally seated on his lap, something he's never done before.

"He's a fox," he corrected them both, "A nine-tailed fox."

Lee gasped in surprise, standing so fast everyone turned to stare quizzically. "I've heard of them before. Gai-sensei told me once that these small creatures were not very common. They are almost similar to nin-dogs and other summoning creatures. Apparently they can use chakra too!" he said in one breath.

"Don't be silly Lee! Wild animals can't use chakra!" Ino giggled.

A soft cough interrupted the girl before she could say anymore. "Well actually, he is right. I heard about animals that have never been in contact with humans and still manage to use chakra," Shino spoke for the first time during his visit.

Sasuke frowned. _That sounds like a load of bull. Even if there are such animals, I hardly doubt this dobe can do anything than bother people._

"Where did you get him Sasuke-san?" Hinata smiled at the fox kit, obviously taking an immediate liking to him, causing her cousin to scowl at Naruto as if he had a nasty disease.

Very lightly, the brunet pressed long fingers behind golden, black-tipped ears. "I found this guy near the forests of the training grounds. He was caught in a trap, but I took him away before the hunters could come back and skin him." His voice remained gentle despite the harshness of the words.

_Don't flatter your self so much, Teme! I almost ripped your hand off that day. _Naruto thought arrogantly, however he could still feel the icy fear that gripped him that day when he frightfully counted down the dreading seconds until he was taken by the hunters, just like his mother. He felt a tremor buzz down his spine at the memory. The touches on his sensitive ears though, immediately relaxed him.

"Oh, look at that! He's purring," Ino and Sakura said in unison. When the blonde girl reached over to pet the kit, Naruto ceased his contented purr and snarled at the approaching hand. Apparently he was still resentful to the blonde girl after comparing him to a dog and called him a pet, since he narrowed his eyes at her.

Hurriedly, Ino pulled her hand away before the fox could bite.

"Quit it dobe, or else I'll take you outside in the rain." Sasuke threatened, although he wasn't feeling very remorseful.

"Y-You know, Sasuke-kun. I could take care of him if you like. I live very close to Tsunade's clinic," Hinata shyly said without looking into his eyes fidgeting with the hem of her coat.

_What! Hell no, no, no! I'm staying with the bastard! I haven't had my complete revenge! _Naruto thought in dismay, even his ears started to twitched nervously.

"As much as I want to get rid of him, I think he would be too much trouble for you. He eats when he wants, sleeps when he wants, and has a horrible habit of breaking things, including that leg of his," Sasuke replied amusedly, pulling harshly at one of the twitching ears.

Naruto crouched to get away from those pale fingers. _Yeah, well right back at 'cha. You're just as hard to live with, you jerk! You never stop cleaning stuff! And you're always behaving like a grumpy man. _He opened his jaws to lightly catch and chew on those fingers that kept abusing his ears. _Ha! Gotcha now, asshole!_

Hinata disappointedly wilted. "W-well, if you sure, but don't hesitate to ask if you need some help," she responded, unknowingly next to her, Neji breathed a sigh of relief.

Ino blushed; Sasuke looked so… open and breathtaking playing teasingly with the fox in his lap. He looked so much more appealing now that he showed more of his human side and allowed himself to relax. Maybe a pet was exactly what he needed. "Well, are we going to the movies or not?"

Sakura's cheeks too were a little rosy, probably thinking the same thing as the blonde girl. "Are you coming then, Sasuke-kun?"

_Oh no, he's not! _Naruto growled and was about to pounce to bite but yelped instead when Sasuke pulled at one of his tails to stop him from getting any closer.

"I don't think so; I'm just going to do dinner and head to bed." The fox chirped in agreement and attacked viciously at the rough hand that moved from his tail to the base of it.

"I have an idea! How about we all go get something to eat instead?" Lee suggested cheerfully. Everybody seemed to agree except of course Neji and Shino, who didn't even care.

_Damn! Time for plan two. _Sasuke thought.

"I can't really leave the usuratonkachi alone; he'll either hurt himself or destroy my house." The chunnin winced when Naruto bit his hand, he used the other one to grab him from the scruff and shook him until he let go.

"Ah, then you can take him with you Sasuke-kun!" Ino and along with everyone else stood up from their seats, letting Sasuke know that it has all been decided whether he liked it or not.

Sasuke inwardly groaned. _I guess there's no getting out of this one._

--

Never in his life has Naruto seen so many lights during the night. The stars and moon were the only sources of light in the prairie, but here they were everywhere, coming from inside windows, in the walls, on the floor to light up the paths, in some cases on the roofs of buildings, and even on the top of dark, tall poles. Hell, with so many lights around, Naruto could scarcely see the stars in the darkened sky.

Naruto shifted inside the little pouch-bag so he was more comfy. He wasn't able to see where they were going since Sasuke had the shoulder bag over his shoulder so Naruto's tiny torso was pressed against Sasuke's back.

The spring weather was surprisingly warm compared to some colder and snowy days from the past years. However, there was a slight humid air tonight, much to Naruto's chagrin since it made the fox pant. He was well used to the blizzard and snow storms back home. His golden fur was still thick and abundant since he hasn't shed his winter coat yet, and he won't be doing it until early summer.

Blinking quickly, he tried to keep up with all the people he saw passing by. Naruto never noticed how many varieties of humans existed; there were ugly ones, cute children being carried by grown ups, tall ones, and some really weird ones. He was soon distracted by the smells. So many scents flowed around him including those of food. The most recognizable were those smells of meat, such as pork which he tasted only once when he was younger, cooked chicken which smelled just as good as raw, fish, crayfish, and shrimp, there was even a small hint of venison.

_That smells good!_ His stomach growled, he began to make short, loud howls knowing that Sasuke knew that that was his hint that he needed to eat.

Though, he did get odd looks from other people passing by.

Sakura giggled as Naruto began to salivate from all the smells. "What do you guys feel like eating?"

"How about some sea food?" Lee suggested, smiling brightly over to the stands of seafood. There was a particular stand with a huge aquarium tank full of marine creatures for people to see and pick to eat inside their restaurant. There small little things like crabs, sea urchins, squids in small transparent bags, there were puffer fish, and even eels. Some things were hard to recognize and hardly looked edible, not to mention they were expensive as well.

Shyly, Hinata stated simply, her voice no louder than when they were indoors, "Anything would be fine."

"What would you like to eat, Sasuke-kun?" Ino asked a pensive Sasuke who really wasn't paying attention.

Sasuke lazily turned to look at her then over his shoulder to a howling Naruto.

"Something fast and light," he said. The sooner he got this done the better.

"How about some ramen?" Lee suggested when they passed Ichiraku's ramen stand.

"Sounds good," Sasuke agreed immediately, ramen was quick and was sure that the store owner would have some grilled fish for the hungry fox kit behind him.

Everybody made their way to the stools and got comfortable while Ayame, the store owner's daughter, took their orders.

_Ramen? What is it? It smells good! Sasuke-bastard, give me some! _The kit, who was still inside the pouch on the stool next to Sasuke, tried to pull himself over the counter. Of course, it was hard work. One of his legs was broken and he was trapped inside the bag until Sasuke unzipped it and let him out. He yelped, then whined softly when he slipped and hit his head with the hard surface of the counter.

Sasuke noticed his discomfort. Acting out of whim (and perhaps out of a little sympathy), he reached out for the fox, who instinctively nosed the hand looking for comfort, and pulled him out the bag, putting him on his lap as a more comfortable alternative.

"What is it, dobe?" he asked softly, secretly worried that the idiot fox hurt himself badly.

"Dook! Dook! Dook!" Sasuke raised an eyebrow, the fox changed personalities quicker than a pms-ing girl. Naruto ignored the other boy, and pulled himself with his hind legs closer to the raven-haired's ramen bowl.

"Tch, that's mine, you dumbass," Sasuke said coolly and tried to pull the kit away from his food. That's what he got for worrying over the stupid pest. Unfortunately for him, the said pest had already dug his claws on the wooden counter and dipped his muzzle into the bowl.

_Wow! This tastes great!_

He was starting to lose his patience; not to mention he wasn't going to be ignored by a brainless animal. "Stop it you moron!"

By now, most people eating there were looking at the two with amused stares, making the brunet blush in embarrassment.

"That's enough!" He grabbed the golden kit by the scruff and pulled him away, noodles and chopped pieces of pork stuck to the fur of his muzzle.

Sakura, Hinata, and Ino giggled at the two of them, while Lee laughed out loud. Even Shino and Neji looked amused at the sight of them struggling with each other. It was rather humorous to see Uchiha Sasuke clutching a small-sized fox by his hind legs and scruff to pull him away from his own ramen bowl. It was even more hilarious to find this strong shinobi not being able to fight against a mere fox's strength of only his left paw. However, nobody was as happy as Naruto though. He was blissfully licking his jaws, wishing for more of the piece of heaven humans called ramen.

"Would you like another bowl, Uchiha-sama?" Ayame said as she handed him a rag.

"I better not, this idiot would probably attempt to eat it as well," he grumbled but accepted the rag, and ignored the angry yowls from his golden-furred companion. With a strong grip, he cleaned himself by rubbing and absorbing most of the liquid around his lap and his hands. He groaned softly as he picked of some small-cut vegetables and noodles of his clothes, considering the fact that he just took a shower this morning.

"C'mon you jerk, let me have some more! I'll eat your clothes if you don't!" Naruto growled miserably, whishing for the first time since he met Sasuke that he could speak the human language.

As he finished, he moved on to clean the kit as well. The beautiful golden fur was matted with pork, seaweed, and with an occasional onion slice. He was dripping chicken-stock all the way from his forehead down to his chest.

"Stupid Naruto," he said to the kit as he picked off a fishcake from the fox's forehead.

_Eh? Did you just say my name? _The fox demon's blue eyes widened in heart probably even stopped for a second. Sasuke's words echoed around him in slow motion over and over. He never really thought much of his name, but the way Sasuke pronounced sounded a lot huskier. It just sounded different... in a good way.

He chirped, twitching his tails in delight as the human continued to clean him more thoroughly with the rag. Considering the fact that now they were in more friendly terms after that, he felt more content and appreciative towards the way Sasuke took care of him. The kit just couldn't stop wagging his tails almost knocking stuff off the counter, and he even gave a couple of small licks on his hands to return the affection.

The raven-haired was so surprised at his reaction that he had to put the hectic kit down before he spilled the almost empty ramen bowl. Once on the ground, the fox excitedly spun around, stood in his hind legs to look at the brunet closer, and jumped and pounced lightheartedly at his shadow.

Sakura gasped. "Maybe he liked it, Sasuke-kun." She reached down to coax him forward a little so she could pat the wet soft fur on Naruto's head, who let out a dreamy sort of sigh from all the attention he was receiving.

"The ramen? He obviously did forehead-girl."

"I meant the name," Sakura growled out, ignoring the childish insult.

Lee looked curiously at Sasuke and a still jovial vulpine. "What name, Sakura-chan?"

"Naruto!" she impatiently shouted, grimacing in embarrassment when everyone turned to stare at her. Some by standers were even wondering if this pink-haired girl was even sane.

At that, the fox commenced the happy 'dook dook' sounds and limped back and forth from Sasuke to Sakura and back again to Sasuke.

_Yeah! Yeah! That's my name!_

"Maybe you should name him like that," Shino proposed. He shifted his glasses back up to his eyes when they begin to fall forward.

Neji crossed his arms. "It's a dumb name. Who in the right mind names an animal after food?" That earned him a low growl from the small fox.

"I think it's adorable," Hinata countered, not noticing her cousin glowering down at Naruto.

"Hn, dobe suits him better," Sasuke sneered down at the demon, who glared right back.

_Bastard! I swear if you don't stop with the nicknames I'll… I'll do what exactly?_ The fox thought for a minute. _Oh, I know! I'll shred all of your clothes with my awesome techni-_

Naruto's thoughts were interrupted by Ino yawning. "I think I'm gonna go now, it's nearly 11:30. I'll see you guys tomorrow."

"We got to go as well." Neji stood quickly. "Let's go Hinata."

"H-Hai, goodnight everybody. Goodnight Naruto-kun," the girl softly wished everyone goodnight.

Right after that embarrassing ordeal, everybody else started dispersing and leaving back to their homes.

"Come on dobe, we gotta go. I have class tomorrow with Iruka-sensei," the Uchiha said. However the kit did the exact opposite. He ignored him and sat on the ground. His blue eyes narrowed in distaste, with his muzzle creased into a snarl.

"Let's go," Sasuke sighed in defeat, "…Naruto." He was already exhausted from the day's events, but upon seeing the fox's reaction to a simple sentence had warmed his heart up skeptically.

The fox trotted to him excitedly, a wave of contentment surfed inside his chest by hearing the raven-haired call on his name. It made his heart speed and his breath to come in short, fast pants.

"Let's go bastard," he answered on his own way.

---

"Minato, calm down for a second!" Jiraiya, the old white wolf, ordered his favorite ex-student.

"What if the demons from the north like the eagles ambushed him and flew away with him! Or maybe a snake demon from the south seized him! Or even worse, what if some humans hunted him?!" Minato rambled on. His one and only son had been gone for nearly three days, and not a single demon knew where in the world he could be.

Jiraiya nudged the demon lord with his nose, who was curled into a small ball.

"I highly doubt humans would come this far into demon territory. They know very well to stay away from these areas," the wolf assured the golden fox. "Let's just continue searching around other clans and ask their leaders for their help. Maybe the kit will come back on his own, Minato. After all, you disappeared for nearly three years as well at one time, remember?"

Minato flushed in embarrassment. "That was because I was trying to court Kushina! And I managed to come back did I not?"

Jiraiya grinned, showing long rows of sharp teeth. "You see? Maybe the kit has finally found someone as well! He'll probably come back as soon as he manages to successfully court his partner. This is going to be his first heat isn't it?"

The smaller animal thought for a minute. "Actually yes, as soon as autumn comes, his body will fill with extra chakra to be used as a reservoir to be able to change into a desired form. That way, he can court someone," Minato said, but quickly he frowned. "However, I never had the chance to teach him the jutsu to transform! He probably doesn't even know any of this stuff!"

"Y-you mean you never gave your son the 'talk'?" Jiraiya hesitated, not sure he wanted to know.

Once again, the fox flushed. "Well no, I didn't think I had to teach him these things until late summer."

"I guess this means the kit is screwed."

---

Kakashi inspected the large gash on his right hand intently. The wound refused to clog no matter how much pressure he added. It wasn't too much of a threat to go to a hospital but it still gave the jounin a lot to think about. The wound was surrounded by element-based chakra. The chakra had been so fine, albeit powerful to cut through his glove and damage the skin cells of the back of his hand. He knew then, that it was wind-based chakra that had hit him. And since his student, Sasuke, could only control fire and lighting that only left one solution.

It would be best though, that he kept his assumptions a secret, at least for now.

* * *

(1) A long time ago, humans imitated the demons' politics and developed the system of hokage, most humans don't remember this however.

In case any readers did not read the disclaimer and the warnings above, we will repeat them again. This fic does not contain zoophilia! Sasuke and Naruto will not engage in sexual acts when he is in his fox form! As you guys have probably already guessed, Naruto will turn into a human in order to be with Sasuke.

We really didn't want to spoil it and tell the readers how this story was going to go, but we have noticed a lot of people concerned about their relationship since Naruto is a fox. We assure you that we would **not** dare write something as explicit as that!

We are very sorry if some of you got the wrong idea about this fic, but believe us, you've nothing to worry about. If you guys have any other questions, please don't hesitate to ask. We are here to spread the SasuNaru love and please the readers as well!

Please review!

-Iemitsu-Sachi


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